Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

survey evidence on visitor numbers and crowding patterns undertaken for the first time in
2001 and repeated again at Carnival 2002 could provide a valuable resource for safety
planning by the stakeholders. In relation to crowd management measures such as policing
and stewarding, the evidence could be used to help inform the Carnival’s future and longterm
strategy.
A Role for the Health and Safety Executive?
2.100 The dispersed nature of the powers and public safety responsibilities for the Notting Hill
Carnival are such that the current legislative framework is inappropriate to deal with major
public street events. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has responsibilities and duties
pursuant to Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974 (HSW Act), except where such
responsibilities have been transferred from the HSE to local authorities. The enforcement
responsibilities for health and safety legislation are determined on the basis of “main activity”.
Where the main activity is a leisure activity, and this includes music events such as the Notting
Hill Carnival, it is the responsibility of each local authority to enforce the health and safety
legislation, unless the event is organised by the local authority in which case enforcement will
be undertaken by the HSE.
2.101 The Carnival Public Safety Matrix set out in this report provides some indication of the level of
involvement of the local authorities in planning for and delivering the Notting Hill Carnival. In
view of this, some consideration should to be given to the extent to which the HSE should
also bear some overall responsibility for the public safety issues associated with this event.
Whilst it may be suggested that the duties and powers under the HSW Act have no application
to the organisation of an event such as the Notting Hill Carnival on the grounds that it is an
entertainment rather than a working environment, the Carnival Review Group were of the view
that such an argument would be misconceived. Section 3 of the 1974 Act imposes a duty on
every employer and every self-employed person to conduct their undertakings in such a way
as to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment who may
be affected are not exposed to risks to their health or safety. This would certainly apply to
NHCT and it may also extend to local authorities exercising their powers in relation to the
Carnival, as well as to the myriad of other employers and contractors involved in the event.
2.102 In addition to the Event Safety Guide, the HSE also publishes the crowd management
guidance document, ‘Managing Crowds Safely’ 70 . Taken together, both these publications
provide considerable advice and guidance to organisers of events such as pop concerts etc
and are therefore applicable to events such as the Notting Hill Carnival. The advice contained
within them should be regarded as the minimum standards to be adopted by reasonable event
organisers and those involved in the Notting Hill Carnival, since they will be evidence of good
practice that a reasonable event organiser ought to adopt. The Review Group noted that the
only Carnival arena that had endeavoured to develop a public safety strategy or code of best
practice for its members and its specific performance requirements had been the Caribbean
Music Association (CMA) 71 . The potential therefore, of bringing together the work of the
CMA, the Carnival Public Safety Project and the risk assessment/public safety issues of the
other Carnival disciplines to produce a global public safety code of best practice for the
Notting Hill Carnival was not only in existence, but also of paramount importance for future
development and safety of the event. Such a document would provide the basis for future
risk assessment strategies, monitoring and training for the Carnival organiser and the Carnival
70
HSG154, Second Ed, 2000
71
‘On de Road’ Roy McEwen, Caribbean Music Association. See para.1.56 supra
114